The Coming Pastoral Crisis No One Wants to Talk About

Search firms aren’t looking for shepherds. They’re looking for longhouse managers.

Boomer pastors are going to retire en masse over the next decade and no one knows what to do.

“Recent research released by Barna Group reveals a demographic trend that may not bode well for the stability of congregations. As a significant percentage of pastors near retirement, the pipeline of younger successors appears insufficient to take over their leadership responsibilities.”
— Barna Group

The American pastorate is aging fast, and the pipeline of new shepherds is running dry. Everyone sees the demographic cliff coming. What few are willing to say out loud is what happens after the cliff, when thousands of pulpits go vacant and the system built to replace them fails.

These churches won’t be handed off to young elders raised up from within. They won’t be entrusted to gritty reformers. Instead, most of these churches, especially the big, well-resourced ones, are going to call a search firm.

That’s where the real crisis begins.

You see, the Boomer generation didn’t just build churches. They built institutions. Professionalized, corporatized ministries that now function more like nonprofits with a worship band than churches. And when the senior pastor hits 71 and sails off into the golden sunset (probably into a denominational role), the board doesn’t cry out to the Lord. They file a requisition.

Elder boards often function like HR departments. Vision statements read like press releases. And when the lead guy steps down, who do they call?

The search firm.

But here’s the problem: search firms aren’t looking for “based chads.” They’re looking for products. They want “clean candidates.” No edges. No baggage. No risk.